Hey All,
It's that great time of year again. The season has kicked off in fine fashion. So, here's the column that makes Tuesdays a little better, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Summaries
USC 49- Hawai'i 10: This one was over 14 seconds into the first quarter when WR Marqise Lee took a short hitch pass from QB Matt Barkley and raced 75 yards for The Trojans first TD of the day. The Trojans looked a little ragged from time to time, but easily handled an overmatched bunch of Hawaii Warriors for the easy win. Barkley finished the day by completing 23 of 38 passes for 372 yards and four TDs. Lee drew the biggest headlines of the day by making 10 receptions for 197 yards and a TD. He also took a kickoff back 100 yards for a score to put USC up 42-7 early in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Trojan defense forced four turnovers while shutting down the Warriors' offense. LB Hayes Pullard led the Trojans defensive charge with a 27-yard interception return for a TD in the second quarter. Hawai'i QB Sean Schroeder threw for 208 yards and his team's lone touchdown in the losing effort.
Telling Stat: A big four; USC's forced four tunrovers v. Hawai'i. USC didn't have four forced turnovers until their fourth game in 2011.
Oregon State 0- Nicholls State 0 PPD: Even though the game was scheduled to be played in Corvalis, this game was postponed due to Hurricane Isaac. Nicholls State is located in Thibodaux, LA. The heavy wind and rain caused a lot of damage and forced the campus to shut down for a few days. The administration didn't feel they could make it out to Oregon for the game. No firm reschedule date has been given for the game.
Arizona State 63- Northern Arizona 6: The Todd Graham era started with a rout. The Sun Devils smashed the Lumberjacks from Flagstaff. ASU RB Cameron Marshall crossed the double stripe twice to put his squad up 14-0 after one quarter of play. Then, the ASU defense really took over forcing three NAU turnovers which led to 28 second quarter points and a 42-0 lead at the half. Oh, and the ASU defense also managed to knock NAU's QB and top RB out of the game in that second quarter. The Sun Devils then tacked on three more scores in the second half to complete the rout. ASU RB Marion Grice led all rushers with 107 yards on 14 carries and three TDs, while QB Taylor Kelly completed 15 of 19 passes for 247 yards and a TD in his first start for ASU.
Telling Stat: Two of Marion Grice's three TDs and almost all his rushing yards came as ASU tried to run out the clock against the hapless NAU defense.
BYU 30- Washington State 6: It was a new offense, a new attitude, and new head coach, but it was an old result for Wazzu as BYU proved to be a better bunch of Cougars. QB Jeff Tuel hit on eight of his first nine passes in Wazzu's new Air-Raid Offense. However, pass number 10 was picked off by BYU linebacker and USC Transfer Uona Kavienga. After that, WSU never mounted another serious threat in the game. Meanwhile, the other Cougars built up a 24-3 haftime lead behind the strong arm of QB Riley Nelson. Nelson would finish the game completing 25 of 36 tosses for 285 yards and a pair of scores. Meanwhile the BYU defense was pretty stingy. Wazzu only moved in to the red zone once all night. He was harried and rushed night, but Jeff Tuel did complete 30 of 45 passes for 229 in a losing cause.
Telling Stat: Long drivers; BYU held the ball for almost 36 minutes T.O.P. while running off scoring drives of 10, 10, 12, and 16 plays.
Utah 41- Northern Colorado 0: Utah QB Jordan Wynn threw an interception on the Utes first drive of the game, but then quickly recovered to complete 19 of 27 tosses for 200 yards and two TDs in this rout. RB John White handled the rushing chores for Utah with 119 yards on 24 carries and a TD of his own. The Utah defense also did its' job limiting the Golden Bears to just seven first downs and 114 total yards.
Telling Stat: No real threat; Northern Colorado's offense averaged a meager 2.2 yards per play in this yawner.
UCLA 49- Rice 24: The bRuins started off the Jim Mora Jr. era with a roller coaster rout of Rice. the roller coster part was jumping out to a quick 19-0 lead, then nearly blowing the lead. The rout part came in the second half when UCLA pulled away for the 25 point win. Rice was unable to stop the bRuins rushing game. RB Johnathan Franklin rushed for a 214 yards on only 15 carries with 3 TDs. Two of his TD romps covered 74 and 78 yards respectively. Oh, and new bRuins QB Brett Hundley had a pretty good game too. He ran 72 yards for a TD in his first play as a bRuin. He also threw for 202 yards and 2 TDs in the contest.
Telling Stat: Soft Rice; UCLA averaged 9.3 yards per play against the Owls.
Nevada 31-California 24: This game was supposed to be one where Cal football would enter a new era with a newly renovated and modernized stadium where the Golden Bears would dominate their foes. The stadium looked great, but the football teams was well, same old Cal. The Golden Bears were beaten for the second straight year by Nevada. Wolfpack QB Cody Fajardo completed 25 of 32 passes for 230 yards while running for 97 yards on 21 carries and a TD. His 49-yard TD run at the end of the first quarter put Cal in an early, 14-0 hole. The Cal offense sputtered from the get-go as QB Zach Maynard was benched for the first quarter by HC Jeff Tedford for missing a tutoring session during the summer. Maynard did manage to throw for 247 yards and a 2 TDs, but Cal's lack of a running game hurt them greatly. Nevada had no problem running the ball as RB Stepfon Jefferson lugged the leather 34 times for 145 yards and 3 TDs including the game-winner with just :36 left in the game.
Telling Stat: They couldn't keep it going; Cal only converted on 3 of 14 third downs in the contest.
Colorado State 22- Colorado 17: Bad losses keep happening to the Buffaloes. All looked good when the boys from Boulder held a 14-3 lead over the Rams late in second quarter. However, a muffed punt by PR D.D. Goodson led to a TD pass by CSU QB Garrett Grayson. The Buffs never recovered from the error. In fact, CSU built on the momentum gained from the turnover and outscored CU 13-3 in the second half to secure the win. For the Rams, Grayson was the offensive star completing 14 of 21 aerials for 173 yards and 2 TDs. Kansas transfer QB Jordan Webb threw for 187 yards and 2 TDs in the losing effort for Colorado.
Telling Stat: Second half sputter; CSU held Colorado to just 91 total yards in the second half, with just 32 of those coming on the ground.
Washington 21- San Diego State 12: A little O and a lot of D got the Huskies through this opener. The little O all came when the Dawgs raced out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter behind a 2-yard TD run by RB Bishop Sankey and an 8-yard TD pass from QB Keith Price to WR Kasen Williams. The offensive then went into hibernation as the Husky defense took over. Not only did the Husky defense hold SDSU in check all night, they provided the game-sealing score when LB Will Shamburger returned a fumble 47-yards for a TD in the third quarter. The Husky defense wasn't completely stellar, they did give 199 yards on the ground and 327 total. However, that is a far cry from the 453 yards per game they gave up last year. The aztecs didn't help their cause when they missed a pair of two-point conversions which left them two scores down in the fourth quarter. They also eschewed a field goal attempt late in the game and were stopped on downs in the final stanza. New SDSU QB and Oregon State transfer Ryan Katz threw for only 128 yards with 1 TD and an interception, while Keith Price led the Husky attack with 222 yards through the air and 1 TD of his own.
Telling Stat: The Defense won it; The Huskies won despite their offense only crossing the 50-yard line twice in the second half.
Arizona 24- Toledo 17 OT: New Arizona HC Rich Rodriguez's offense ran up 624 total yards on the Rockets, but three turnovers, two TDs called back on penalties and numerous other mistakes turned this game into a nail-biter. Meanwhile, Toledo ran up 358 yards of offense on their own and managed to tie the game at 17-17 early in the fourth quarter on PK Jeremiah Detmer's 40-yard field goal. UofA's PK John Bonano had a bad night missing two short field goals of 24 and 25 yards, with the latter one coming at the end of regulation. Wildcat QB Matt Scott came to the rescue though by hitting WR Terrence Miller with a 10-yard TD toss in OT. The UofA defense then held Toledo on downs to escape with the victory. Scott looked good in UofA's new offense with 387 yards passing and two TDs to go along 74 yards rushing. RB Ka'Deem Carey showed a little flash running for 147 yards on 20 carries including a 73-yard TD run to lead the Wildcats ground attack.
Telling Stat: Tough D down the stretch; The Wildcat defense kept their offense from giving away the game by holding Toledo to 0 first downs and just 11 total yards in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Stanford 20- San Jose State 17: Two drives into this one the Cardinal were up 14-0, had 131 yards of total offense and it looked like they would just roll along in 2012 not skipping a beat despite losing Andrew Luck to the NFL. Then reality set in, and the Cardinal found themselves fighting to avoid an embarrassing loss to their little brothers from San Jose. The Spartan defense held new Cardinal QB Josh Nunes and the rest of the offense to just 149 yards and 6 points in the final 49:23 of the game. SJSU QB David Fales completed 24 of 35 tosses for 216 yards and a TD to give his team a shot at victory. It didn't happen though as Fales was intercepted on the Spartans final drive to end their hopes of an upset. Nunes comleted only 16 of 26 passes for 125 yards and one TD in his debut as Andrew Luck's replacement.
Telling Stat; They couldn't move the chains; Stanford's ball control offense converted on only 2 of 13 third downs in the contest.
Oregon 57- Arkansas State 34: Don't let anyone tell you this was ever a close game. UO's new QB, Marcus Mariota looked great in his first start for the Ducks and completed 18 of 22 passes for 200 yards and 3 TDs in a little over a quarter. He sat the rest of the game as the Ducks led 29-0 after the first quarter and 50-3 halfway through the second quarter before emptying their bench for the rest game. Oh, and DeAnthony Thomas didn't look bad either. He had three carries for 64 yards and a TD and four receptions for 55 yards and two more TDs. Everyone earned their letters for Oregon in this game.
Telling Stat: Early knockout; UO scored 29 points, had 218 yards of offense, and 10 first down after one quarter of play in this laugher.
Notre Dame 50- Navy 10: The Fighting Irish for the first time in a few years managed to dominate Navy's undersized defense. With QB Tommy Rees and RB Cierre Wood both suspended for the game, ND's backups picked up the slack well. RBs Theo Riddick and George Atkinson III combined for 206 yards rushing on 28 carries and four TDs. That realy took the pressure off QB Everett Golston who didn't have to throw much. He completed 12 of 18 passes for 144 yards and a TD. The ND defense forced four Navy turnovers while holding the Midshipmen's option offense to just 149 yards rushing for the day.
Telling Stat: Long Fields; Notre Dame's scoring drives covered 75,70, 80, 87, 49, 42, and 68 yards.
Observations
...Nowhere to be found; Rumors are that there is an APB out in Houston for Rice's linebackers. They disappeared right after kickoff vs. UCLA.
...A waste of time; Did Utah really have to schedule a game with a Northern Colorado team that went winless last year in the FCS? An intrasquad scrimmage would have been more exciting.
...Pointless; Why was the crowd at BYU asked to create a white-out in the stands for their game with Wazzu? I just thought that was a given at BYU.
...Way too true; ESPN's Heater Dinich wrote in her ACC Blog earlier this week that Maryland has such a lack of depth that they are a scholarship or two away from being an FCS team. Well, after the Terps had to come from behind to beat William & Mary, 7-6, I wholeheartedly agree.
...Just the beginning; Penn State's fans feel that things can't get much worse after losing to Ohio U. I hate to tell their fans it's gonna get much worse, but it will.
...Not the same game; How huge was Nevada's upset of Cal? Well, the last time the Wolfpack beat the Golden Bears in Berkeley was 1903. That's three years before the forward pass became legal.
...The real deal; Yeah, it was just against Arkansas State, but new UO QB Marcus Mariota is scary good.
...Way too early; If it's possible to be on the hot seat after one game, Cal HC Jeff Tedford should be feeling the flames.
...This just in; The Big Ten has been rendered irrelevant for the 2012 season. Thanks, Michigan.
...Weird stat; Baylor walloped SMU, 59-24 to start their post-RG III era off with a bang. The crazy stat from the game is that SMU's Run-and-Shoot offense held the ball for almost 40 minutes.
...Ugly on multiple levels; Not only did it look ugly on the field, Michigan's new road uniforms were awful. That much maize is really a bad look.
...A Red Rose Bowl; I believe the Rose Bowl will be 70% red when Nebraska visits UCLA this week.The other 30% will be 15% powder blue and 15% empty seats.
...He'll take it; It was a very sloppy showing, but UCLA HC Jim Mora, Jr. will easily take the W v. Rice.
...Not unsaid, but unseen; The most exciting end to a game was last Thursday night when Minnesota got a 27-24, triple overtime win at UNLV. the game didn't finish until almost midnight on the west coast, so very few people saw it. It also didn't help that the Golden Gophers were nursing a 3-0 lead late in the third quarter.
...An improvement; It was just against SDSU, but Washington's ability to shut down the Aztecs in the second half bodes well for a Husky defense that still wakes up in a cold sweat after seeing RG III running and passing all over them in their nightmares.
...$4,571.43; That's the price per point scored that Okie State paid to Savannah State to come in and be the Cowboys' sacrificial FCS lamb last week. Okie State won, 84-0.
...Maryland-esque; Georgia Tech's beehive pattern uniforms have to go. The helmet is bad enough, but they had to put that pattern on their numbers and side panels?
Until next week folks, remember that teams always make their biggest improvements from week one to week two of the season.
-The Commissioner
